Acute Awareness
by Boneos
Summary: Booth confronts Gordon-Gordon concerning his observation to Sweets.


Gordon-Gordon had made an observation to Sweets had he? Judging by the smug grin on the little twerp's face from the night before Booth was sure that this wasn't a good thing. Deciding to take matters into his own hands and head off whatever play Sweets was planning on making, Booth had volunteered to take the British psychiatrist to the airport this morning to hopefully gain an inside perspective. The problem was Booth was having a hard time trying to decide how to broach the subject. He was still a little sore with Gordon-Gordon for the previous evening's events and wasn't entirely sure if the strenuous workout from this morning had been enough to tamp down any lingering anger. But faced with the possibility of more meddling from Sweets, Booth pushed aside his annoyance and broached the subject that had been plaguing him since last night.

"Sweets made a comment last night that I wanted to ask you about if you don't mind."

"Ah yes, I wondered when this subject would come up, please go ahead."

"Sweets mentioned an observation that you had made to him about Bones and me. I would like to know what it was that you said to him."

"Well, since he will more than likely be mentioning something along those lines in his book and the observation was about you anyway, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to share. I told Dr. Sweets that one of you is very aware of the attraction between you and struggles with it daily."

"What? No! You told Sweets that?"

"Yes, he had come to the erroneous conclusion that you and Dr. Brennan were both suppressing your awareness of your mutual attraction to each other. I felt it necessary to inform him otherwise."

"Why? Why would Sweets need to be informed otherwise? Why couldn't he proceed with his erroneous conclusion? Now he thinks he has it figured out! And he's going to write that in his book? I've got to put a stop to this muy pronto." Booth angrily yanked the parking ticket from the dispenser waiting for the arm to rise. "Which one of us is it by the way that is aware of our attraction? I just want to make sure Sweets isn't jumping to the wrong conclusion. I can't believe you told him that!"

"Which would you prefer? The misconception being put out that you and Dr. Brennan are not capable of introspective consciousness or the truth that could possibly provide abatement to the torment that struggling with that knowledge brings about?"

"I would prefer that those details not be published for public consideration. This subject is bordering dangerously close to a personal life that I wish to remain private. You still haven't answered my question, which one of us is it?"

"Agent Booth it has been my experience that establishing an open dialogue can go a long way to resolving arduous situations."

"My partnership with Bones is not a difficult situation. We have a line for a reason. We work in a high risk situation and romantic relationships can lead to dangerous consequences."

"I pose to you the probability that the line does not protect either one of you from dangerous consequences. Since I know you have successfully faced circumstances that were far more jeopardous than your current work environment I can only assume your concern is for your partner?"

"Bones doesn't need to be put in danger because of me. Romantic involvements when working in high risk situations often leads to dangerous results. Sickos just love to use loved ones to torture agents, that kind of involvement only attracts their interest."

"Life is the most dangerous situation we will ever encounter regardless of our level of involvement. You run just as much risk of being hit by a bus as you do out in the field, regardless of your romantic entanglements. Life is about chance, the moment you stop taking chances you might as well stop living. Why not enjoy the time we have left however short that might be? I would like you to ask yourself is it concern for Dr. Brennan's safety that the line has been drawn, or is it the safety of your heart?"

"Bones' safety is my first priority. Now quit avoiding the question, which one of us is it?"

Opening the door to the SUV Dr. Wyatt looked at Booth for a moment before answering as he stepped out, "Well, since you haven't yet argued the validity of my observation and only seem to be concerned with finding out which one of you it is, I would think you already know the answer. Thank you for the ride to the airport, it was good to see you again Agent Booth. Goodbye." Dr. Wyatt shut the door of the SUV and gave a final wave to Booth before turning and heading inside.

The hope Booth had been trying to ignore since Gordon-Gordon had revealed his shocking observation quietly died with minimal acknowledgement. He had known the answer all along. He couldn't possibly have thought he would have been capable of preventing the doctor from seeing what was apparently written all over his face. Even Sweets saw it. But he had for one brief moment hoped that Gordon-Gordon thought Bones was the one that was struggling with her attraction. Life would be so much sweeter then wouldn't it? That thought was quickly struck down with the reminder that Bones' safety was his first priority. Romantic entanglements led to dangerous situations. The mantra was once again repeating itself in his head.

How could Gordon-Gordon think he wasn't willing to risk his heart? That he was denying himself heaven simply because he was afraid of being hurt? This was about Bones. It was always about Bones. If the only thing at stake was a broken heart Booth would willingly risk it all on the chance that she would return his feelings. The memory of her gentle smile as she returned his handkerchief to his pocket and her soft caress from the night before once again played through his mind. It seemed to be on an almost continuous loop. That was why he had to keep reminding both her and himself of the distance they needed to maintain. Not only for his peace of mind, but for hers as well. The last thing he wanted was for Bones to have to go through what he was having to deal with. The constant pain of seeing her everyday but not being able to touch her the way he needed to. Once he had become aware of his feelings for Bones it was like he had suddenly stepped in to Technicolor. The world seemed brighter, life seemed fuller, only to be plummeted into the depths of hell as his attraction became a growing beast he was finding more and more difficult to control. The guy hugs weren't even cutting it anymore. Touching her was starting to become painful. But he was addicted. There was no way he could go back now. His only hope was that something would come up reminding him of the line. His mantra wasn't helping anymore and now he had Gordon-Gordon's voice ringing through his head arguing that the line be erased. He needed Bones to start dating or some life threatening situation to crop up. Not anything dangerous to him or Bones mind you, he wasn't averse to being in danger, but considering Bones being buried alive had a lot to do with his realization that he loved her, he wanted to avoid any situation that might bring Bones to the same conclusion. But he needed some kind of distraction. He couldn't take anymore nights like the one when she came over and admitted she was jealous of his desire to lose himself in someone. He wasn't sure if he was grateful or angry that she had no idea the affect her words had on him. Images of showing her just how he wanted to lose himself in her fought for dominance over the memory of pulling her out of what was almost her grave. The only problem was that now that memory only made him want to hold her more.

Was Gordon-Gordon right? Was the line not going to keep her safe? What then? What more could he do? He knew trying to keep her out of the field would be impossible. Booth laughed remembering a time when he had begged her to come with him into the field. Fortunately for Booth ever since Zack had returned from Iraq, Bones no longer avoided field work. Having her by his side was a drug and he needed his daily fix. But what if staying in the lab was just as dangerous as going out in the field? Hadn't Bones dealt with danger from exposure to toxins inside of her supposed safety zone that posed just as much of a threat as the bullets that had on occasion sailed pass her head? Hell, just last week the squints had even tried to blow themselves up! A memory of him throwing her up against a wall flashed through his mind. The crippling wave of lust at remembering himself pressed up against her caused his vision to blur for a moment. Now he had a sense memory to go with a few of his favorite fantasies. Danger. Bones, danger. The thought instantly erased all traces of desire from his system. The woman was a magnet for danger. It was as if the universe were trying to knock her down a peg or two. Make up for her being so gifted mentally. But his Bones was not one to be knocked down. She would bow to no one, his Bones walked tall. But if she was in just as much danger in the lab as she was in out in the field, then was it such a stretch to come to the same conclusion Gordon-Gordon had? Life was full of unknown perils and what good did it do to deny yourself happiness in the hope of avoiding danger? The idea slowly began to take root while the ever present mantra attempted to beat the hope back down. The scary thing was the hope was beginning to win.

So just for arguments sake, what if Booth decided to believe Gordon-Gordon? Was Bones ready to make that leap with him? The answer came to him quickly, no, not yet, but emphasis on the yet. If the conversation they had had after the Mitsakos' case was any indicator she was warming up to the idea. At least now she could admit that she liked the idea of love being eternal, she had to if she was jealous of him believing in love, right? Booth was certain that if he put a little effort into it, he could convince her that he was the man he was referring to when he made the promise of someday. Sure it had taken four years to convince her that love existed, but that was the most difficult step right? If he was the one to convince her to believe in the possibility of love, then it wouldn't take that much more to convince her to love him. Plus they had already established the most important ingredient in any good relationship, trust. He knew her trust in him was absolute. And he knew he would be willing to use that to his advantage, after all who could she more safely entrust her heart to? Booth knew that her heart would always be safe with him.


End file.
